Steve Ozich was born in Croatia in 1890. In 1906 he joined a group of boys bound for New Zealand - sailing from Naples. On arrival he joined a team of gum diggers working in the Kaiwaka/Whangarei area. After labouring on the railway he set up his own carrying business. In 1921, he moved to Oratia, purchasing 20 acres on Seymour Road. Purchasing the Central Hotel, he and his wife ran a boarding house and real estate agency, later renamed the Falls Hotel.